


Trust (in secret moments)

by sammyspreadyourwings



Series: Petrichor [1]
Category: Bohemian Rhapsody (Movie 2018), Queen (Band)
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Anal Fingering, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, Hospitalization, Hurt/Comfort, Illnesses, Masturbation, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Multi, Non-Traditional Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Omega!Brian, Scenting, Secret Omega, ask to tag
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-15
Updated: 2019-04-15
Packaged: 2020-01-13 14:03:26
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,288
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18470443
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sammyspreadyourwings/pseuds/sammyspreadyourwings
Summary: Brian has a condition that causes his first heat to be much later than a typical Omega's. The first one doesn't go so well.





	Trust (in secret moments)

**Author's Note:**

> The tags on this are wild.  
> I deconstructed my previous A/B/O and took out the parts that I liked and now we have this baby series. This is probably going to be the least sexy abo any of you have read, so with that.  
> Enjoy!

It was a bad idea, in hindsight.

His past self was an idiot. Brian thinks as he whines and pushes his hips down onto the soiled sheets. His hips ache from the repetitive motion and his dick is raw from getting himself off. At some point, he’d run out of lube in the room, but his legs felt too unsteady from his heat to go into the bathroom. It’s possible he’s also weak from not eating the proper number of calories these past few days.

He groans and shoves his fingers deeper into his hole, wanting for something larger to try and curb his arousal. Brain knows what his body needs, but he’s in no shape to find an Alpha and he knows for a fact he doesn’t have a toy to even try and simulate it.

It’s a lost cause. He comes dry but the burning edge is still there. Tears stream down his face as he removes his fingers and wipes them on a blanket. Brian grabs a pillow and pulls it to his chest. There are about two hours or so before the arousal becomes unignorable and he has to repeat the process now turned painful.

Not for the first time this week he wishes that the others hadn’t gone to visit their families. They aren’t _Alphas_ but anything is better than this. He writhes trying to find comfort for his aching and exhausted body, but he can’t shake the feeling of being unsafe. His eyes dart to the closet which had a layer of forgotten clothes on the bottom.

Standing seemed impossible, but he’d only been able to sleep on the pile of clothes which were starting to smell more like him than their owners. Their lingering scent is the only thing giving him a reprieve. Brain bites his cheek, ignoring the coppery taste. His arms shake with the effort of pushing himself up and his hips and lower back twinge uncomfortably.

Not wanting to risk standing he drops to his knees and grimaces at the sticky feeling covering his body. At this point, he’s not sure if its sweat, slick, or cum, but there’s no way he could make it to the shower. His stomach rebels at the motion, reminding him that he hadn’t eaten since… a while ago.

Hell, what day is it even?

Through sheer force of will, he makes it to the closet and curls up on the pile. He shoves a majority of the clothes under his hips. It helps, but it leaves his spine bent in an awkward way. Mild in comparison to the screaming of his lower body. At this point, that’s all he can hope for.

The last time he had been comfortable in his own skin had been two days before his heat hit full force. He’d kissed John goodbye because the bassist had taken the last train out. Then he treated himself to four macaroons from the bakery they all love.

More tears fall at the sting of loneliness arching its way through his chest. He rubs at his eyes, surprised to find he had been _imagining_ the wetness. Shit. How dehydrated was he?

His mind supplies to him, somewhat deliriously, that he’s probably in Heat Shock.

Fuck.

He debates crawling towards the phone, but a full body tremor kindly informs him that he’s not moving for the next couple of hours. Without much choice, he closes his eyes and steals a restless hour of sleep.

A yell wakes him up. His foggy mind tells him it doesn’t sound panicked, and he doesn’t feel like he’s in danger, so he closes his eyes again. When there’s another yell he stirs. It sounds familiar, and he can make out pacing in the hallway. The scent doesn’t quite reach him enough to be clear as to who it is.

Honestly, it doesn’t matter. He feels safe and there’s another person and maybe they can make him feel better. Brian clears his throat; it sticks with dryness and when he first speaks it cracks. It’s barely audible even to him.

“Brian!”

They’re calling for him which means that it isn’t a stranger, and really that makes him relax already. He doesn’t know why they haven’t come to him. The crack in the closet door shows him that his bedroom door is ajar, so they had checked. It’d be weird for them not to check here, right?  
Why was he in here anyway? Does he usually hide in here? His brain slows down with another flare of arousal burning in his stomach. The feeling forces a loud sob out of his throat. It hurts and he just moans because there’s another thing that hurts on him. His hair is the only thing that doesn’t hurt, but it's matted and weighed down by sweat.

Brian jumps as the door flies open. He blinks his eyes because his bedroom light hadn’t been on. The scent reaches his nose before his brain catches up to what his eyes are seeing. Freddie. He whines at the tinge of bitter-fear in the scent. Hands wrap around his face and he melts into the contact.

The arousal spikes and he instinctively bucks his hips. The muscles spasm, there’s a cramp forming in his thigh. Finally, someone is touching him and its mitigating some of the discomfort.

Freddie is talking to him (Freddie’s home!). The words batter against his skull, but he doesn’t understand them. He wants to know why Freddie isn’t doing anything to him and he twists so that he’s on his back and legs spread. When Freddie doesn’t do anything again Brian lowers the lids to his eyes and tries to look demure. That’s what all the Omegas in porn do.

“No, you aren’t in the headspace to make that kind of decision.”

Brian opens his mouth.

“You aren’t,” Freddie coos.

He calms automatically, and keens at the smell of Beta pheromones.

“I actually think you’re pretty deep in Heat Shock.”

“Yeah.”

It’s weird to form words after not having done so for so long. It does lower Freddie’s shoulders and some of the panic in his scent fades away. Brian leans into him now that more of the rosewater scent is evident. Hands run through his hair, it does nothing to curb is arousal which is still present and hurting, but it takes his attention away from the pain. It’s nice.

“How long?”

Brian blinks and tilts his head unsure of what the question is referring to. He’s been an Omega his entire life, that should be obvious.

“How long have you been in heat?”

Oh, that question makes more sense.

“John left,” after that everything was a blur.

“I didn’t know you were an Omega.”  
Brian nods. He knows there is a term for it, but he doesn’t remember what it is and also it might stop Freddie’s gentle caresses which he really doesn’t want right now.

“Wanna get cleaned up?”

“Yes.”

When Freddie gives him a look, which Brian’s muddled brain can’t figure out, he gently pushes himself up. His arms are shaking even worse than before and his chest spasms in dry heaves.  Freddie grabs a shirt and rubs it over his mouth.

“How long has it been since you ate or drank anything?”

He shrugs. Telling time is not in his current skill set.

Freddie stands and then crouches back down and then stands again. His tongue runs over his teeth, and he looks towards the door. A wrist gets pressed against his forehead and then Freddie pulls back with a slight hiss.

“Okay, that’s a fever not just your heat. That’s not good.”

Brian nods.

“Stay here for a second? I’m going to call Roger, I’ve never dealt with an Omega in heat… can I call Roger?”

“Will he come?” Brian tilts his head.

He’d like it a lot if Roger was here. John too. He wants John.

“I’ll ask. Do you mind if I tell him?”

Brian shakes his head. Freddie should tell Roger to come. He wants that. His eyes flutter and the room starts to spin. Freddie curses and grabs his face.

“Eyes on me.”

He’s pretty sure they are, but Freddie’s face keeps blurring into two. Something hits his cheek, but he’s only dimly aware of the pain that he feels there.

“Brian, eyes on me or I’m calling an ambulance.”

He doesn’t want that; except he also doesn’t know where Freddie’s face is. Brian narrows his eyes but the black spots dance and grow larger. There’s a second where he feels his body go limp and nothing.

* * *

Brian wakes up in a place that doesn’t smell like anything but bitter. His eyes dart around. There are two men, one with something covering his nose and the other one running a rag over his face with efficiency. He meets the eyes of the one with a rag.

“Name?”

He squints, “Brian May.”

There’s something in his nose making his voice sound weird. He tries to paw at it but it doesn’t feel like he has control over his body. His arms are sluggish, and he doesn’t know what’s going on. He’s certain Freddie had been talking to him. Where is Freddie?

He mentioned Roger. Was Roger here? Brian doesn’t see either of them and it makes him want to cry. He wants Freddie or Roger or John. All of them preferably.

“Do you have any pre-existing medical conditions?”

 _Maybe?_ The words he was trying to think of slam into his brain like a freight train.

“LHS.”

He sees the person’s eyes widen and then he feels his body tighten and he’s not sure what happens after that.

* * *

Brian thinks he wakes up and there are a lot of lights passing by quickly. One shines in his face. Something cool touches his neck. There are a lot of people surrounding him. There might have been a lot of questions thrown at him. He tries to answer them or tell them that he doesn’t understand, and the air gets caught in his lungs and he doesn’t know why he can’t breathe. Just that he can’t.

The faces of the people surrounding him twist and he doesn’t fight to stay awake.

* * *

It’s dark.

He glances around, but he can’t make out anything but shadows of furniture. There’s no one here. His heart hurts and he falls asleep.

* * *

The room has a pinkish tinge. He can see things now, and all that’s in this room is another empty bed. The walls are beige but everything else is white, from tiles to the sheets.

Someone enters the room, also dressed in white. He has a spicy scent and Brian curls away from him. The man is an Alpha and he can still feel the heat in his belly and he’s unmated. Brian’s eyes dart around and he’s the only one in the room. He’ll cause more damage to himself if he tries to run because of the needles in his arm.

It seems like the Alpha senses his discomfort and takes a step back.

“Mr. May?”

Brian nods slowly.

“I’m Doctor Murphy, how are you feeling?”

He’s not feeling any particular way. It doesn’t feel like the numbness from depression, but it’s suppressed. Even his fear of being alone and unbonded and in heat with a strange Alpha isn’t making his thoughts and heart race like it usually would. Brian shrugs.

“That’ll be the medication,” Doctor Murphy writes something down, “you were in what we call a stage 4 Heat Shock, do you remember that?”

The first few days of his heat he was mostly uncomfortable and vaguely horny and bored but then something changed. Everything is a blur.

“Sort of.” His voice is scratchy and not in a pleasant way.

“What that means, Mr. May,” Doctor Murphy sounds annoyed, “is that you were severely dehydrated and that your caloric intake was well below what it should’ve been for an Omega in heat. That’s why you were so shaky and kept passing out. In addition, you had a high enough fever that it made you delirious and triggered a seizure, reportedly two. Not to mention the general state of your, well, your reproductive organs. We had to treat you for anal tearing and for the sores on your penis.”

Brian’s cheeks heat up with a mixture of shame and embarrassment. Doctor Murphy is clinical in his tone, but Brian should’ve never let it get this far, now there’s going to be so many people that know what he is.

Doctor Murphy continues, “thankfully there’s no lasting damage, I would advise not engaging in proper sexual intercourse with knotting for the next few weeks for it to heal. Ideally, there should be no sexual encounters of any kind, that shouldn’t be a problem for you.”

Brian bristles and sits up. He knows he was in Heat Shock, and there are only two reasons an Omega usually gets that bad. While he might not have had anyone with him this time which lead him to his point, he does have partners. One second-

“There is someone – the person that called the ambulance?”

He wants something to drink, his throat feels like he swallowed a bucket of sand, but he doesn’t want to let this doctor off the hook.

“Ah yes, the _Beta_ or rather the _Betas_.”

That tone explains why he’s alone.

“Where are they?”

“In the lobby. This floor is meant for Omegas and partners only.”

“They are my partners.”

“Unfortunately,” Brian _feels_ the insincerity, “they aren’t considered as such in the eyes of hospital policy. They had to have gone through a heat with you. Which if I understand your chart right, this was your first one?”

Brian nods.

“As you know it is ideal for an Omega with Latent Heat Syndrome to finish out their first few heats without medical intervention in order to regulate them.”

“I know, now they’ll be irregular for a good while,” Brian frowns, “can you please have someone let my partners in?”

 “It’s against hospital policy.”

“This is a public hospital, correct?”

Doctor Murphy sighs, “yes but-”

“Your policy is illegal, the law changed.”

“I would have more leeway if at least one of them was an Alpha or if it was only one.”

Brian translates that as he would be more willing to bend the rules if Brian was planning to be a traditional Omega.

“I want a new doctor,” Brian crosses his arms, “an Omega or Beta.”  
This time the doctor does curl his lips, “I am the LHS specialist with this hospital.”

“Seeing as I’m here because of Heat Shock and not LHS, then I’m sure there’s a gynecologist or even an endocrinologist that would be more than willing to take over the case.”

“I highly advise against it.”  
“I want a new doctor,” Brian trembles.

He doesn’t have the energy for this, and the uncomfortable feeling of the heat building makes him want to just hide in the corner. If he backs down now though, he knows that he won’t get a new doctor and the rest of his hospital stay is going to spent uncomfortably between the doctor’s position of dominance over him and none of his partners with him.

The fruity scent of an Omega hits his nose. It’s a nurse judging by the lack of coat and scrubs. She pushes past the doctor and goes straight to him, checking over the machines.

“Sorry, we noticed a spike in your heart rate, we didn’t want you to be going through a crest.”

Brian nods, “thank you.”

“As I was saying our next steps in treatment-”

“Should be discussed with his new acting, correct Doctor Murphy?” The nurse smiles sweetly, “Doctor Anderson is on her way down, she’s the endo on call.”

Doctor Murphy glared at the nurse before inhaling, “yes, of course, I’ll greet her at the elevator and brief her.”  
Once the Alpha is gone Brian let out a sigh of relief which turned shaky and he barely kept the tears from spilling over. The nurse rubs his back comfortably.

“You did the right thing for you,” she says softly, “he’s using the outdated policy, which was changed a few months ago with the new law, but none of the signs are up so people don’t know their rights.”

Brian nods and closes his eyes tightly.

“Not to mention Doctor Anderson should’ve been given your case as soon as you stabilized. Doctor Murphy was called in as an E.R. consultant.”

“Why are you telling me?”

“Because I know how heats work, even if it isn’t your Alpha, Omegas can get stressed about what _could_ happen about displeasing one.”

He swallows. The guilt that was building his stomach, that he was unaware of lessens somewhat. Brian still feels like crying, and less because of an Alpha trying to throw his weight around and more because he wouldn’t have been in this mess if he wasn’t such a coward.

“Doctor Anderson is a Beta, so I’m sure she’ll let your partners in once she’s done with the intake.”

“Thank you.”

“Don’t worry about it,” she steps away, “I’m going to be filling out a report for him, I’m Nurse Sherri if you need me, I’m on shift until eleven.”

He watches her leave. This time he can’t stop the sobs that forces its way from his throat. Even through the medication, he feels the ache in the lower part of his body. The arousal is dying down, which makes him wonder if Sherri had done something with the IV. If only there was medicine for shame.

Ten minutes later his throat is sticking together in its dryness. His eyes are tacky and even though he feels exhausted he can’t rest.  There’s nothing against his back but a window and nothing to keep an Alpha from coming in and biting him. It doesn’t happen as frequently as it did thirty years ago, but it happens enough.

Brian closes his eyes against the screams of his instincts to just rip the needles from his arms and to find either Freddie or Roger or John. The door opens and he brings his knees up to his chest. Instead of a hulking Alpha (or worse Doctor Murphy), it’s a petite woman with the flowery smell of a Beta.

“It’s Brian isn’t it?” The Beta walks closer and offers her hand, “Doctor Anderson.”

He relaxes marginally and shakes her hand.

“You were explained what we treated you for?”

“But not how, or continuing treatment – can you please let my partners in the room?”

“Of course, I’ll have a tech fetch them right after we finish this little interview.”

Brian would rather have them now. Then shudders when he thinks about them listening to this. He’s already going to have explain why he’s not a Beta to them and they’re going to be freaking out. Who knows what Doctor Murphy even told them? They must be feeling awful.

Doctor Anderson pats his arm, “I promise this won’t take long, okay Brian?”

“Sure.”

“So your first heat was triggered by your primary, Doctor Harrison, on the 14th?”  
“Yeah, but my heat didn’t start until the 18th.”

She writes that down, “and your partners were?”

“All out of town, I didn’t tell them.”  
“Okay,” she checks a box, “did you know what you would feel when undergoing heat?”

“I thought I did; I didn’t expect it to be that… bad?”

“Well, yours was particularly bad, because the trigger wasn’t processed normally, you should’ve started on the 15th or 16th which means it was just a flood of hormones once you hit the initial, or kickoff crest.”

Brian nods. Roger would understand this better than him.

“Which means you probably have another hormone disorder that’s gone undiagnosed because of the LHS.”

_Wonderful._

“We started the bloodwork for the most common ones, but it’s my medical recommendation that for the foreseeable future you have a heat partner. Your partner can form a temporary bond, which means that there’s an outlet, however small, for your hormones, which is what I believe caused the Heat Shock. A true bond would be able to provide more stabilization but so long as we take precautions, it shouldn’t be a necessity.”

Why does everything always come back to a mating bite? Brian wants to be mated, but not because he’s an Omega and he really doesn’t want it to be because of a medical condition. The problem comes from the idea that his partners wouldn’t want to bond with him. Chances are even smaller now considering he’s lied to them.

Well. He didn’t lie, but he also didn’t tell them.

“We can’t do much more until the tests come back, and rest up.”  
“Er, one question,” Brian whispers.

“Hm?”

“Why am I still in heat?”

“Because it would have caused more damage to stop it prematurely considering your condition, we have it controlled so that it’s not a true heat, but it’s not a false heat either. Your partners will be able to smell it.”

“I still want to see them.”

“Of course.”

With that Doctor Anderson takes her leave. Brian lets out a breath of relief. Her flowery smell was starting to become overpowering like someone had reapplied too much perfume. He slips down the bed and onto his back. The heat is turning into an ache along the underside of his stomach. Ah. Those are the cramps he’s heard about from the other Omegas.

Several minutes later, just as he’s found a position that isn’t too uncomfortable, the door slams open. Brian jumps, the ache flaring up as he does so. His heart rate immediately slows when he catches three familiar scents. He focuses on the pile trying to enter at the same time. Eventually, Roger is propelled forward and keeping with the momentum he reaches the bed in two strides.

“Brian!”

Roger opens his arms and then draws himself to a halt, sniffing. His eyes go a little glossy but his body turns tight, “it _was_ Heat Shock then?”

He nods. Brian feels his heart rate pick up again at the response. Roger is temporarily distracted by Freddie rushing over to him and John a second behind him.

“It’s good to see you love. They haven’t told us anything!”

Right. Freddie had been the one to find him. Brian flushes, he isn’t sure what his exact state was when Freddie found him but he does remember that it wasn’t his proudest moment. The scents swirl around his head and he bites his cheek and hides behind his knees as best he can.

John hasn’t said anything. Brian peeks out and sees that the youngest Beta is strung up tighter than even Roger. The arousal in the room his making him sick and he’s not entirely sure who it's coming from. He wants to cry, but he knows that he can’t.

A styrofoam cup is placed against his face. Roger’s lips are parted, and he’s got his head tilted away, but Brian can feel the cold from the cup. He grabs it, and ignores the obvious shaking in his hands, and picks out an ice chip. It soothes his throat and after two more he feels like he can talk without scraping glass in his throat.

Brian has no idea how to start.

“How are you feeling?” Freddie asks.

He’s also got his mouth parted like he’s trying to not use his nose. Oh. That makes sense. Brian places a hand over the swollen gland in his neck as if that would help.

“Better.”

“Good, that’s good,” Freddie sighs.

The tension also easies out of Roger some, but the blond remains resolutely out of arms reach. Brian whines and reaches out for him and with his other hand, he waves John and Freddie forward. Roger is the only one to take the invitation, he grabs the offered hand and places against his chest. Brian feels two fingers slide to his pulse point. The glands there are also partly swollen and Roger massages the area around them.

“Can you, or do you want to explain what happened?” Roger whispers.

Brian shrugs, “Heat Shock, a bad case of it.”

Despite the doubtful looks on his boyfriends’ faces, that’s the truth of it. The other part of the story he still needs to work up the courage to tell, he can’t start the conversation. In his entire life, he’s never told anyone he’s an Omega, and he can’t start now.

“You didn’t tell us you were an Omega,” Roger frowns, “how’d you hide your scent – your heats so well?”

Freddie nods, “you didn’t smell like one or act like one, no offense.”

Brian lets out a shuddering breath. He has to explain it.

“Did you not want to spend your heats with us?” John asks.

He nearly thinks he imagines John speaking, but he sees the lips moving. It’s unfair really, that he would try to twist it to be about trust. Brian keens at the thought of hurting his partners, and he wants nothing more than to cuddle, but he’s stuck to this hospital bed and even Betas while less affected than Alpha’s have their limits.

“You would’ve had to have gone in heat only a day or so after I left to have gotten as bad as Freddie said,” John mumbles.

He’s looking for what he missed. It hurts Brian to see him so upset. They need to talk about it, and this is about as neutral place as any.

“I haven’t-” he clears his throat, “I haven’t had a heat before.”

John blinks, “but you’re twenty-four?”

Brian turns to Roger when he hears the soft ‘oh.’ Roger’s eyebrows are furrowed in thought, but his fingers don’t stop their gentle massage.

“You have LHS?”

“Yeah.”

“Wait, I thought Omegas with LHS tried to trigger their heat before this time?” Freddie tilts his head, “you haven’t ever been with an Alpha.”

Brian winces. This is exactly the conversation that he wanted to avoid, “it can’t be triggered… like that. Porn and movies just want it to be like that so they can make the Omega more appealing to viewers.”

The slutty Omega begging after any knot so that they can prove they’re a “true” Omega or the Omega finally finding their true Alpha that triggers their heat. Brian hates both of those archetypes because they ignore that things like _this_ happen. He didn’t want his boyfriends to only think of his as one of those stereotypes.

“I think I get it,” Roger frowns and moves his fingers away from the gland. Instead, he tangles his in Brian’s and smiles kindly.

John is still tense, there’s an edge to his eye that Brian doesn’t understand, but Roger also sees it and shakes his head. Freddie is looking between then and lifts his arms.

“I still don’t get it!”

Roger looks to Brian who nods. This conversation has taken a lot out of him. He knows that Roger will at least get into the vicinity of what he’s feeling.

“Would you want to share your first heat with someone?” Roger asks, “when you’re older than most and have no idea how it’ll affect you personally? And the people you would share it with think you’re something completely different, might be with you because you are that completely different thing?”

Brian slides down the bed. He hadn’t expected Roger to get that close to his thoughts. Then again, Roger’s always been good at figuring out emotions and what’s causing them. Freddie eyes him but steps back. The conversation is over for now.

He couldn’t be more relieved.

* * *

Brian had been waiting for the other shoe to drop since he had been released from the hospital two days ago. He’s become a ghost in the community areas of the flat and the bottle of pills he had been given hide between knick-knacks on the corner of his shelf.

The evening of the third day, all of them are home from classes or work. John sweet talked the lady at their typical takeout place to give them extra vegetarian egg rolls and Roger had gotten a fancy wine sent to him from his mother to celebrate another good semester in college. Brian wonders when they’re going to have to talk about that.

Freddie chews slowly on a pepper slice, but his eyes keep drifting to Brian. He sighs and takes another egg roll, once it's on his plate it’s no longer fair game. Roger steals the last one. John pouts but then lights up when Roger breaks it in half.

“Brian,” Freddie says.

The room shifts from the friendly air to the one laced with seriousness. He leans back, away from the Beta and waits for the question.

It never comes.

Roger and John eye each other nervously. Freddie presses his lips together in thought. Brian sighs, there’s no point in drawing this out they all know what the elephant has been in the room.

“When I made the choice to not tell you, unless directly asked, it wasn’t because I didn’t trust you – or this – but because I didn’t want you to think I was lying.”

“Why would you think we would think you were lying?” John frowns.

“Because I didn’t have the Omega traits or the scent. The kind that you get after heat at least. I also didn’t want you to try and change things.”

“We wouldn’t,” Freddie argues, “we love you because you’re our guitarist, brilliant in so many ways and completely breathtaking.”

Brian flushes, “I’ve had it go bad before.”

Roger growls and the leans into Brian.

“I couldn’t risk it, no matter how small the chance was. I shouldn’t have tried to go through my heat alone, I know that now, but I couldn’t.”

It’s unexplainable to even him. He runs his fingers through Roger’s hair, which is more knotted than usual.

“What about the pills that the doctor prescribed you?”

“Birth control,” Brian whispers, “it’s supposed to help regulate my heats.”

“They gave you birth control?” Roger raises his eyes.

“Not for the intended use, I assure you.”

Roger snorts and waggles his eyebrows, “we should take advantage of that.”

Brian tenses and his breathing increases. Roger immediately backs away and into John.

“Sorry, I hadn’t meant. Sorry.”  
“No. It’s not – I don’t know how to – I don’t want the heats to be sexual yet?”

John wraps around Roger to keep him from folding over in guilt, “but you’ll let us help? Showers, food, water, and all that?”

Brian closes his eyes and dips his head, “I want to understand it before I add a completely different element to it.”

“It’s enough that you’re letting us help,” John replies softly.

* * *

His first (second? Does _that_ one even count?) comes a month after the hospital visit. The birth control had been meant for couples trying to get pregnant, which means frequent but short heats. Doctor Anderson assures him that three months of this and his hormones should stabilize, and he can start easing into the four a year.

Considering everything else, that sounds incredibly optimistic, but he’ll take it. They’re in the midst of recording for their first album when he feels the tight line across his stomach.

He doesn’t mention it because they’re on a deadline and the label still thinks he’s a Beta. They’ll correct that paperwork depending on the success of this first album (Brian is a little grateful they had finalized things before his health decided to become the ruling factor in their lives).

“Wrap it up,” Sheffield says, “we’ll get back to this in three days. One of our other artists wants to drop a single and considering their sales. Well.”

It’s an aggressive way to remind them that there’s a career riding on this album. Brian feels the flare of anger and sees it in the set of Roger and Freddie’s shoulders. John’s lips twist, as he’s the closest Brian steps nearer to him.

“Okay,” Brian manages to wheeze out.

They don’t have any legs to stand on. Not to mention Sheffield is an Alpha and the unease is looping in his spine. The faster they leave the quicker he can figure out how they want to do this. Three days should be enough for the heat to run its course.

Again, he doesn’t put much stock in things involving his sub gender working out for him in the long run. Freddie sends him a betrayed look. Another cramp nearly causes him to double over. John raises his eyebrow and lifts his head to sniff. He shakes his head at Freddie, which seems to tame the singer.

Roger, however, doesn’t notice the exchange, “if you want us to get this album out you’re going to have to give us the time! This is the third time you’ve cut our sessions short!”

Sheffield looks directly at him. John steps in front of him.

“You should be completely honest with your employers, I’m sure if you, ah, came clean about things I could find you space.”

Brian is about to be sick. John is trembling in front of him. He reaches out to grab the bassist’s arm, who quickly reverses the grip and starts to drag Brian out. Roger frowns, but Freddie puts an arm on his chest. Some part of him wonders what the explanation is going to be. The other part of him wonders how Sheffield knows. Mostly he’s worried about John’s uncharacteristic anger.

“Why didn’t you tell us today was the day?”

“I didn’t know,” Brian replies, “I thought I still had a few more days on the packet.”

John unwinds slightly, “sorry. I shouldn’t have. It’s just, he’s an Alpha and we haven’t-“

“Haven’t what?”

“Discussed with you, biting you, and each other.”

Oh. Brian blinks. He hadn’t expected – “John.”

“I know we can’t do it now, not until everything is figured out with you, but it still scares us – me – that this is so unpredictable.”

“John,” he tries again.

“I can’t tell - Every other Omega in London I can, but with you, I can’t, and I can’t help but think about how it would’ve ended if Freddie hadn’t gotten into that fight with his parents.”

Brian tilts his head. John had been distant lately. He doesn’t get what John is trying to say. They can’t tell because his body doesn’t really know when he’s going to have a heat yet.

“I would’ve been the last one to see you alive, and I had no clue.”

Oh. _Oh._ He’s entirely unprepared for this conversation. Brian wants to know what’s taking Roger and Freddie so long and he has small hopes that they aren’t taking turns punching their manager black and blue. No matter how unopposed Brian is to that on a technical level.

“You had no way of know, I had no way of knowing.

“That’s what I hate,” John swallows, “it would’ve been bad luck and nothing anyone could do about it.”

Brian frowns, “what?”

“I don’t know. It’s hard to – It’d be harder to accept, I guess. That you were fine and then you weren’t and we probably wouldn’t have ever figured it out.”

Brian nods. They would’ve because they would’ve found hi – he cuts off that train of thought. In truth, he hadn’t been able to open that particular closet, even though the smell of his heat is gone. He hasn’t told the others that though, just because they’re already hyper-focused on him as is.

Another cramp, this time with a surge of heat sends him doubling over and into the hollow of John’s neck. John’s lavender scent calms him and eases some of the tightness. His best guess is that he has an hour before the kick-off crest. They have a thirty-minute drive back to the flat.

He feels John’s hands go into his hair and then press him tighter against his neck. The anxiety that had been building being away from his nest and in the open slowly starts to dissipate. As long as he doesn’t have to leave this position, he’s fine. John’s chest rumbles with calming purrs.

“Is he okay?”

Brian reluctantly looks towards the voice. Freddie and Roger are moving towards them. Their eyes are bright with worry.

“He’s about to go into heat.”

Freddie presses his lips together.

John shakes his head, “it snuck up on him. Let’s get back to the flat.”

They move quickly through the studio and towards the van. John guides him to Roger and climbs into the front seat to drive. Freddie climbs in the back with him. Brian closes his eyes and tries to focus on anything but the ache in his abdomen. Why anyone found this sexy he didn’t know.

Freddie maneuvers himself so that his head is on Brian’s stomach, the weight is uncomfortable, but the body heat isn’t. He digs his nose into Roger’s neck, and the blond simply tilts his head to give him more space. He sags at the scent of lilacs.

The arousal builds sharply. Brian whines at the feeling, mostly because he hates the feeling, his brain reminding him of the last time he felt this brand of arousal. Roger reaches down and digs his fingers into Brian’s hips. Freddie turns on his side so that he’s facing away from Brian’s groin.

He really wants to yell fuck it and have them spend his heat with him. Except he’s certain that’s his heat talking, and he’ll regret it once it clears. Who knows what he’ll be saying when the heat’s completely overtaken his thoughts. Brian must trust that the others are going to be able to respect his wishes.

“Mind going a little faster John?” Roger calls out, “I think he’s just hit it.”

“Going as fast as I can.”  
They’re able to make it to the flat minutes before he feels the slick start to leak out of him. Brian practically bolts to his room and closes the door. He wants to lock it, but he stops himself.

Freddie enters in after him a few minutes later. Brian’s pants are undone but he stopped when he heard someone at the door. There’s a box in Freddie’s arms. He tilts his head and sniffs trying to memorize the scent of rosewater. It only makes his cock ache more, and he presses his back against the wall in an effort to keep back the flow of words. He could go to the closest.

The thought makes him gag.

“These should help. Let us know when you need anything, otherwise, John will be in around eight with food and water.”

The box slides over to him and Freddie backs out of the room. Brian waits a few minutes and then his curiosity gets the better of him, he flips the box lid up and closes it once he realizes what it is. He bites his lips as his hand drifts unconsciously to his cock and he palms it through his boxers.

After another minute of trying to ignore his building arousal, he digs around in the box and pulls out a tube of scented lube and ignores the (presumably new) toys. A little further in the house, he can make out the sounds of Freddie and Roger singing with the radio that keeps fading to static. He hears a cry of joy as the music comes through a little louder and then he slips his hand under his waistband.

* * *

His head clears three days later. He’s achy but not in any way that causes alarm bells to ring. The room smells mostly like him, and a subtle mix Freddie, John, and Roger. They hadn’t stayed long enough for the scents to linger in any meaningful way.

Brian lets out a breath of relief and then feels guilty. Of course, they had stuck to the deal they had made. They only came in when they were helping him with basic survival needs in return Brian got his room to himself.

Sitting up he eases out the cramps in his shoulders and back. The clock reads that it’s three and judging by the lack of light it must be early morning. Brian stands and it only confirms that he hadn’t been touched in any way he didn’t agree to. He takes his birth control dry and shuffles towards the shower.

The stickiness of his body makes nerves pool in his stomach. He shakes his head; he had made it through this heat without anything like that happening again. However, he does step into the bath while it’s still feeling up. Lukewarm water seeps into his aching muscles and it brings him that much closer to humanity.

Brian dumps some of Freddie’s soap into the tub, because there’s no one to prove that he did, and plays with the suds that froth up. His bath now acceptably bubbly he starts to work on getting the residual heat smell and dirt gone. He stays in the bath until the water cools and the bubbles have all dissolved.

Then he takes his time drying off with the fluffiest towel they own (which happens to be John’s). He checks himself in the mirror afterward. His hair hangs limply but the ends are already beginning their rebellious curling, and more importantly, his neck is clear and the heat flush has receded.

He bumps into Roger on his way out. The blond eyes him and then sniffs. A smile breaks out on his face.

“Out of it?”

“Back in it, I would say,” Brian grins.

Roger leans up on his toes and brings Brian’s lips crashing into his.

“Great, because I missed you.”

“Missed you too.”

They kiss a few more times before Roger starts dragging him into Freddie and John’s shared room. Well, it belongs to all of them at his point, but Brian needs his space some nights which is why they haven’t moved into a cheaper space.

“Don’t you have to do something?”

“Nope, was waiting for you. Thought you heat might break, take your pill?”

“Yes, mom,” Brian rolls his eyes.

Roger sticks his tongue out and then steals another kiss. They stop outside of the bedroom.

“Was it better this time?”

“My heat?”

“Yeah.”

“It was,” Brian wrinkles his nose, “I don’t like them, but this one didn’t feel so bad, and I had you three this time.”

Roger opens the door. John is wrapped around Freddie who insists on sleeping on his back. He can just make out eyes staring at him from where John’s head should be. Brian stumbles forward when Roger pushes him. The bed is really too small for four grown men.

Brian settles on Freddie’s other side. Once he closes his eyes, he feels John pick up his hand and press a kiss to the knuckles. He feels the bed dip behind him, and Roger’s arms go around his waist. It makes him squirm so that Roger’s breath wasn’t hitting the back of his neck all night, tickling him. Naturally, Freddie stirs because John grumbles at them to settle down.

A kiss gets placed against his temple. Brian flicks his eyes up to meet Freddie’s still closed ones. He kisses at the spot on Freddie’s neck they all know he loves.

Someday it’ll be covered with a bite from either John or Roger, a mirror to the one on the other side of his neck. A set that will match his own (he dreads the argument over which one will have to be on his wrist) and Roger’s and John’s. That day is still months maybe years away, but he trusts that they’ll get there.

**Author's Note:**

> *vague shrugging motion* There will be a series. I promise. Otherwise, how'd y'all like it? Leave your thoughts and comments below! Or come talk to me on Tumbr.


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